Neuropolitics: Reception and Response

            It is difficult to pinpoint the reception and influence of this text. There is little information available regarding reviews or critiques of Neuropolitics. It is safe to say that this book did not have a widespread impact and remains fairly unknown in modern times. Most likely, very few people really cared about this book. However, for a subset of futurists, psychonauts, or a countercultural individual, the ideas presented in this book may have been well received. For example, there are letter of correspondence between Carl Sagan and Leary throughout the years in which this was written. Sagan seems to think similarly to Leary in terms of extraterrestrial intelligence and exploration, and the potential evolution of the human CNS (Sagan, 1974). Less directly, some individuals, from normal people to scientific pioneers, might agree with Leary’s claims about the use of psychedelic drugs (or other methods) for consciousness expansion and intelligence increase. One example is Kary Mullis, a Nobel Laureate for improvements to polymerase chain reaction. Mullis has stated that LSD was mind-opening and extremely important experience, and Albert Hoffman, the inventor of LSD, claims that Mullis stated LSD was essential in his development of polymerase chain reaction (Harrison, 2006; Mullis, 2000). Steve Jobs has said that using LSD was “one of the two or three most important things” he had done in his life (Markoff, 2005).

Steve Jobs is on board
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Crick understanding DNA, and clearly trippin'
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Francis Crick, another Nobel Laureate, mentioned the use of LSD as a thinking tool and helped him envision the double-helix shape of DNA (Rees, 2004). In a report about ayahuasca by CNN’s Lisa Ling, a veteran with PTSD describes the psychedelic experience as unraveling his previous conditioning and helping to shed his automatic maladaptive responses to certain stimuli (Stroder, 2014), which is analagous to the description of these drugs by Leary. In a direct parallel to Leary’s fifth circuit, there is a phenomenon known as the overview effect, in which astronauts claim having a cognitive shift in awareness associated with space travel (O’Neill, 2008). Although these are specific examples, there is evidence that scientists, experimenters, and regular people share experiences similar to ideas proposed by Leary, particularly consciousness expansion and intelligence increase, whether it by drugs or other means. However, all of this is based on subjective experiences and individual cases, and the science is not there to support it.

Not sure what this woman has to do with it
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It is important to consider that Leary writes this text as a philosopher, rather than a scientific psychologist. Leary’s ideas are backed in little to no objective data. Leary uses Neuropolitics to discuss his ideas as a futurist, seemingly hoping that one day the rest of the world will be able to tune in with him. Almost 40 years later, it is difficult to assess how many of his ideas and predictions have succeeded and failed to reach their prophecy. Most of his ideas are conceptual, and tend to be vague and tough to grasp. However, one can see how some predictions are manifesting. The potential for space migration is one of Leary’s predictions that is beginning to play out. For example, NASA and Elon Musk are devoting resources to make space exploration and travel more feasible, and plan to develop potential Mars colonies (NASA, 2015; SpaceX, 2015). It seems Leary’s ideas of space migration may be in early phases, although not exactly in the way he describes. Intelligence increase is more difficult to assess, and I don’t believe Leary would be content with the way society has developed. Based on Leary's description of the problems of our government and society, not much has changed. With the modern obsession of reality television, popular culture, and many other “mindless” activities, Leary would likely argue that the majority of individuals are still trapped in their programming and terrestrial consciousness. The use of psychedelic drugs is not as salient in culture now as it was in the neurological revolution of the 1960s. Despite these failings in modern times to evolve consciousness and neurologically, Leary would likely see some positive progress in technologies, such as the internet, that allow for rapid transmission and reception of signals and mass connection. While immortality may seem far-fetched, life extension is a continuing goal of science that often has small progressions that add up to large changes over a long enough timeline. Treatments for almost every life-threatening disease (such as cancer, AIDS, etc.) have advanced tremendously and continue to extend lives. The average life span of humans is lengthening with further advances in medicine and science (World Bank, 2013). Overall, his predictions are not perfect, but there are some identifiable trends that relate to, and result in, Leary’s SMI²LE.

Had Leary’s book been published today, I don’t think it would be well received, or even read by many. The book contains little to no legitimate evidence to support Leary’s claims, and would not be accepted among the scientific community. For example, the eight-circuit model of consciousness is highly theoretical and has never been a prominent theory among researchers of neuroscience or consciousness. Many people still largely reject ideas such as immortality, widespread neurological changes, consciousness expansion, and space migration, as science fiction. That being said, some individuals may recognize the potential for SMI²LE as legitimate, even if they are not possible in the present. There still remains a subculture of individuals who use drugs, meditation, and other methods to shed themselves free from programmed reality in attempts to experience different ways of thinking and alternative consciousnesses. Still, at the time it was published and in modern times, this remains a book that is likely read by few, and accepted by even fewer.

It seems like this guy must have read Neuropolitics
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This is one of the most far-out books I’ve ever encountered, and I have mixed thoughts on many aspects of the book. I definitely had a lot of fun reading this book. Yet as a scientist, one cannot really accept any of the claims in this book, due to lack of data. Some evidence is presented to back up Leary’s claims, yet examples that confirm his hypotheses and ignore refuting evidence could have easily been cherry picked. Still, Leary’s ideas of consciousness expansion and futuristic predictions are captivating. The evolution of the human CNS and expanded consciousness is very appealing and perhaps provides hope. Life extension is a current goal of many fields of scientific inquiry. The problems of life on Earth are changing and the reality of human life in space is a growing possibility. Often his comments about government and culture are still visible in modern society. I think the way Leary describes our evolution through CNS changes makes sense, although I may not agree with the mechanism or pathway he suggests. In the end, I’ll side with Leary with his concluding statement “why not?”